breaking balls and he keeps swinging like that. instead of saying i'm a contract guy. i just need to put the ball in play and get about 40 infield hits a year. >> bob: olsen keeps throwing strikes. that ball hit well to left center. willie harris is getting to it, but it's up against the wall and the nats will have to hurry to keep him from rounding the bases again. one mistake on a throw there and that would have been an inside-the-park home run. he hit that ball about 395 feet. >> rob: it's another hanging breaking ball right there by olsen. he kicks it in another gear. >> bob: he did a lot of ball watching there. i've just seen a trend in

recent years, it's almost like runners get near second base and they don't trust their coaches anymore. they want to watch the ball themselves. but that was a triple all the way. and now the caught stealing looms large, the reason the nats are still ahead. olsen has to get hanley ramirez here. up the middle, tie game. three hits in this inning and four out of five batters have hit safely. >> rob: it's important for scott olsen in this start to start pulling down on the breaking balls and not just try to throw the fastball down the middle. hanley ramirez didn't try to hit a home run or anything. when you recognize that the pitcher is having trouble with his breaking ball, you know he's going to try to get across a couple of fastballs. you have to be able to pull on the top of those breaking balls

and get them down below the hitting zone. >> bob: power to burn her for cantu. >> rob: he's got to make them a little bit more uncomfortable. he's got to get ahead an coming up around the letters and knock them off the plate. this is what happened in the first game against the orals. they got -- against the orioles. they got so comfortable, they just stood in there and took badding practice. batting practice. 16 hits, # 1 runs? 11 runs. >> bob: that ball popped up to left for adam dunn. the marlins tie the game in the third. @@púxx our 737s fly to over 65 cities across the country every day. woman over p.a.: this is your final boarding call. all passengers... each with an average speed of 590 miles per hour.

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joints in motion, the arthritis foundation's premier fundraising event, gets you moving. to change lives to change your own. joints in motion. call today. >> bob: ryan zimmerman walks to the plate. he was doing the same thing leading off the second when he got a first pitch fastball from ricky nolasco. this ball went a long way. >> rob: i don't even have to look at this pitch, you could just hear it. that ball was crushed. >> bob: 330 down the line here. probably 335 where it left the park, but he hit it at least

another 60, 70 feet. >> rob: he took something off of that one. he throws an off speed breaking ball right here, 84 miles an hour and he popped it up. >> bob: short little road trip. baltimore i guess was a road trip. we felt we were at home pretty much, and right back here tomorrow night. craig stammen back in the rotation, he'll pitch tomorrow. jordan zimmermann on wednesday. then the braves are in for three. make your ticket plans for the weekend. we will ring in the fourth, and then it's on to colorado and houston prior to the all-star break. the nats have a stretch of a bunch of road games here. that's 13 out of 16 games on

the road, starting last friday at baltimore. >> rob: i hope colorado cools off because they've won 22 of their last 29. >> bob: that's a managerial change that worked. arizona didn't, colorado did. >> rob: they're now five games over .500. it can be done. >> bob: 0-2. no swing says james hoye. this is fun to watch this one over and over again. so easy. almost took a window off our masn office. and a breaking ball, see ya. strikeout number five for ricky nolasco. he's really warming things up after the nats got him for two in the second. >> rob: you throw one this

good, he's frozen, he knows he can't pull the trigger on that one. adam will walk back to the -- to the dugout. >> bob: with two strikes you can not be looking for that pitch because he'll throw the fastball right by you. >> rob: absolutely. you throw one that great and it's wrapped around the back part of the plate, and there he went front door. >> bob: when that happens you tip your helmet, then you walk 100 feet and take it off. >> rob: then maybe next time you look for that pitch and you kill it. >> bob: willingham killed one the first time. a ground rule double. came in to score on nieves infield hit. that front door breaking ball, just got inside the door frame. it's 0-2. similar situation. you have to be thinking hard stuff here.

that's a hard breaking ball away, and josh actually got good wood on it. >> rob: that was kind of a cutter or a slider. that wasn't a good curveball. don't be thomas edison out there. don't be trying to sink too much. right now fastball and that curveball pretty difficult for the nationals to hit. nolasco really shouldn't mess around with another pitch. >> bob: the way nolasco's pitching right now, things are happening quickly, and they're all good for him. he's retired six straight. and there's the fastball up and away. >> rob: if you're throwing a 77 just amazing curveball. then you're throwing 94. that differential is going to

be hard to hit. but you throw something 94, then 84, they got a shot. >> bob: there's a breaking ball. >> rob: that's the third breaking ball in this at-bat. as i said before, if he throws three in a row or four in an at- bat, i see us losing a couple of those balls tonight. >> bob: his career at land shark stadium. i've never worked in a ballpark that's had four different names. joe robby, pro player, dolphin, and now land shark. >> rob: land shark was from saturday night live. when the shark came to the door, knocked on the door, land shark. then you opened it up and it ate you.

>> bob: unfortunately before they named that, this ballpark by that name, that's what used to happen to the nats here. they would open the door and the marlins would devour them. welcome to land shark stadium. >> rob: land shark. who? land shark. >> bob: that's funny. good battle here by josh. and he gets a base hit off the glove of bonifacio. josh willingham is 2 for 2. >> rob: one too many from nolasco. very good at-bat by josh willingham. >> bob: who is now batting .288. >> rob: here's a front door breaking ball. he's all over it. bonifacio has 13 errors, probably mostly throwing. he can't come up with the ball.

>> bob: here's anderson hernandez who bounced back to the pitcher first time. when ricky nolasco took a buzz saw to his bat. >> rob: he dropped down on that one. he's got a lot of pitches this nolasco kid. when we saw him earlier in the year he was throwing like this. he's got some good stuff. i think we got to him later in the game. >> bob: well, six innings. the nats, remember, the nats were having their pitching nightmares with the bullpen. then he pitched in washington, and in four innings gave up seven hits but only two runs. the marlins eventually came from behind to win that game. one of those heartbreaking losses. the nats bullpen gave up that first weekend 3-2. and a

fastball up. >> rob: we've talked to some people from the marlins. he fancies himself as a guy that has about 7 pitches. that's four too many. right now we've seen a few of them tonight. great breaking ball, great fastball, just learn to throw those consistently for strikes and you'll win a lot of games. you keep messing around with that fourth or fifth best pitch that you throw maybe five times a night, you're going to give up a lot of home runs. >> bob: the pitching coach watching here. he was heading for a quick inning until willingham battled to get a base hit. josh is running, then he stopped. i asked willingham yesterday when is the last time you stole third base. he could not remember. but he said he did steal eight bases for the marlins one year, and that was a key play yesterday in the ballgame.

he went for third, then matt wieters threw the ball into left field. ronny paulino at about 21% throwing out opposing base runners, 9 for 44. but the element of surprise is gone, so i'd be surprised to see josh do something here. >> rob: that might even have been a false break. sometimes you'll start running, just to try to get the catcher to step up or maybe take a strike away interest the pitcher and think about throwing somebody out. doesn't necessarily mean you're going to go to second base. pretty good career. >> bob: josh is like, what are you doing saying my name and his in the same sentence. he's going. and nolasco gets the one hopper

right up the middle. was it a good reaction? a lot of luck or a little bit of both? we've gotta pay for. and a few things we want to pay for. on top of it all, we're still trying to put away some money for the future. with the wish list, we can save up for anything we want. and still have enough to cover the day-t0-day. plus, the savings engine helps our money grow. and that's something we need and want. introducing the virtual wallet from pnc, a high definition, online view of your money. pnc. leading the way. coors banquet has been brewed in one place... and one place only: golden, colorado. it's followed one tradition: use the best high-country barley... and only rocky mountain water. and it's been brewed under one motto: never compromise. now maybe this means we're a little set in our ways.

but we know a few guys who will drink to that. coors. the banquet beer. >> bob: turning into a nice comfortable evening here in

south florida. still a threat of rain in the area. but okay for now. three and a half innings in the score book, it's a 2-2 game. uggla, ross and ronny paulino for the marlins, bottom four against scott olsen. 40 pitches, not a bad count in three innings, 28 of them strikes. but he made some location mistakes in the third inning. he struck outlawing swinging first time. the breaking ball is low. a fastball. interleague of course is over for another year. i'll give you some of the final numbers after this at-bat. kind of interesting with the american league winning the whole thing again. things were most even in the west, where the american league

west and the national league west both won the same number of games, 39. out of play. in the central, the american league central won 46 games, the n.l. central 40, but in the east, no contest, the national league east won 35 games, the american league east won 52. i'll give you the final total in a second. here's the two strike pitch to uggla. >> rob: that was a great pitch. >> bob: the only man scott olsen has struck out. >> rob: he gets ahead with the fastball. then he just breaks off, a very nice uncle charlie, or snap dragon on that one. >> bob: a little off the pitch track. >> rob: the uncle charlie's are the ones that's coming from

nolasco. that's a snap dragon. that's more of a slider, kind of a 3:00 to 9:00 deal. >> bob: so the american league won 137 games, the national league 114 for a plus 23. >> rob: but i think we've established the american league east is the best division in baseball. >> bob: absolutely. that ball hit so well and josh willingham does it again. he did it to nick markakis yesterday. that was in left field. this may be the best play we've seen from josh as he repairs his divots in right field. >> rob: josh willingham has played this outfield many, many times. he knows it's beautiful, soft football turf. you'll see him pull up a few divots here and he makes a great grab. soft line drive. >> bob: guzman has got it.

it stayed close enough to nick johnson. @úpxx?xxúú@@

>> bob: nothing like some good glove work to give your pitcher an eight pitch half inning. it will be nieves, olsen, then willie harris in the top of the fifth.

nationals 0-6 against the marlins this year. three of those here. they've lost seven straight in this ballpark and 16 of 21 dating back to the beginning of the 2007 season. this is a different nationals club than the one that played here first week of the season. for that matter, it's a different marlins club, too. mike rizzo got some good news today. seven more draftees signed. 23 of 50 now have signed contracts, and three of the top four. first pitch, one hopper. bonifacio looked like he might have been battling the lights on that one. that can happen on a chopping ground ball. olsen next, then willie harris. they'd grand slam flex plan we've been telling you about. this will be good for a long

time this year, because it's just four games you pay for it and you get one free. pick your plan, your games, your seats, get a free game, it's that easy. nationals also signed their second rounder, the second baseman from cal. he's a 6 to the 2 slugger. >> rob: second baseman, 6'2"? we like that size. >> bob: who does he think he is? jeff kent? >> rob: jeff kent. >> bob: let's hope he's not so grumpy. >> rob: so true. >> bob: but jeff sure could play. he just didn't know how to have fun. >> rob: you know what he said? he said i want to leave this

game with no friends at all insuring the game. so, i mean, yeah, i think he pretty much succeeded at that. but he was a hall of fame player. >> bob: oh, yeah. he brought back rbi numbers as a second baseman that rogers hornsby had put up back in the 20s. and the 30s. that's how good he was driving in runs. it's not a position you associate with rbi's. there have been a few. joe morgan and ryne sandberg, but over the years not that many. right-field line, brett carroll with the long run. and right at the bullpen barrier for the second out. willie harris still looking for contact. >> rob: 377 home runs, 1518 rbi's, lifetime .290 hitter,

.356 on-base percentage over 17 years. won mvp back in 2000. he was special. eight times drove in over 100 runs. >> bob: and those were the numbers, the rbi numbers that evoked comparisons to the great raja as they called him, rogers hornsby. willie harris, two swinging strikeouts tonight. later debbi taylor will tell us about some nationals minor leaguers who have garnered some honors this week. good to know when your minor league guys are the best in their leagues at what they do for a certain period of time. the top three in the order, 0 for 6 tonight. that's high strike.

>> bob: now, yesterday in baltimore, jim joyce didn't call a pitch like that a strike all day. so tonight you have a different umpire who is calling the high strike. he tries to stay up there, but he's too high. the nationals first five hitters, 1 for 10 with the zimmerman home run. so a base runner needed here in the fifth inning to get something going at that point in the order. willie late for it and he knocks it right into his own dugout.

>> rob: hornsby didn't hit as many home rubs. 301 home runs, 1584 rbi, but a lifetime batting average of .358 for rogers hornsby. over 23 years. >> bob: he didn't have any maple bats. picked off by cantu. that will be it. the nats go in order in the top of the fifth. @@ppxxúúxx÷xpp@@

>> bob: nats fans are all over the place tonight here at land shark stadium. a lot of them came down to see the new ballpark. then they found out it's the same place. let's check out our geico highlights. >> rob: that was great inning for scott olsen, there you see the strikeout to uggla. cody ross hits a line drive shot right at josh willingham.

then cristian guzman is going to go towards third base, throw out ronny paulino. so a great 1-2-3 inning, the bottom of the fourth against the florida marlins there for scott olsen. >> bob: ricky nolasco having quite a night as well. he has a pitch count that could take him deep into this game. 69 pitches through five. olsen averaging 12 pitches per inning, his first four. here's brett carroll who got one of the big hits of the game. olsen and the nats were cruising along at 2-0 when carroll doubled leading off the third, that gave nolasco the chance to sacrifice. then they had three straight hits. rob: the ast at-bat, guy hit a  came akwith  fastball. very nice. oh, yeah, take something off the breaking ball. haven't seen a lot of change-

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